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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23281012">When (Social) Distance Lends Enchantment</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/senbazuru/pseuds/senbazuru'>senbazuru</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hetalia: Axis Powers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Current Events, Drabble, Just a fluffy meet cute, M/M, No direct references, Nothing serious, or deep, practice</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 09:53:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,035</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23281012</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/senbazuru/pseuds/senbazuru</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur’s being responsible and practicing social distancing, which is ironically how he comes to meet Alfred.</p><p>Just a short free-writing exercise to help me get back on the wagon. Apologies for the shitty title.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>America/England (Hetalia)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>When (Social) Distance Lends Enchantment</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p><br/>
“Oh... hi?” </p><p>The tall blond man on Arthur’s doorstep pretty much stole the words from out of his mouth. Surely that should’ve been his line, since <em>he’d</em> been the one to reluctantly answer the cheerful knocking.</p><p>“Hi” Arthur said, shifting to his other foot, one hand still holding open the door. The mail lady had already been today, but due to current circumstances he’d thought that maybe it could be another delivery. He’d been practicing social distancing for years as it was, now he just couldn’t go outside even when he wanted to. </p><p>“Uh, hi” the guy said back, again. He was staring at Arthur like he hadn’t really expected the interaction, which was odd seeing as though he’d been the one to initiate it in the first place. </p><p>“Can I help you at all? It’s just... you know” Arthur took a hesitant step back. He’d really like to just get on with his work. </p><p>“No, uh I mean... sorry, I just wasn’t expecting -“ he gestured vaguely at Arthur, but then attempted to hide it by running his hand through his hair instead. “My name’s Alfred” he continued when Arthur lifted his brow in question. “I’m... so I was checking on some of the other residents, you know we’ve got plenty of older folks in this apartment block? Making sure everyone’s got what they need, or just showing a friendly face. And I was asking around, and a few people mentioned that Arthur at number twenty three didn’t manage to get out very much, and I kinda thought...”</p><p>“Oh” Arthur interjected after an awkward pause. “You thought they meant I was one of the older tenants?”</p><p>“I mean, yeah” Alfred said with a shrug. “But I guess you’re not” his eyes slid down to Arthur’s too small tshirt, and past his comfy gym shorts to  settle on his feet. “Nice socks, I like cats too” and that amused smile he gave him made Arthur start to blush.</p><p>“Well, I’m fine” Arthur said to quickly divert the topic of conversation “thank you” he tacked on politely. “I work from home anyway, and though I’m now staying inside because of my condition, I’m already getting what I need through the post. So, I do appreciate your concern,” he conceded a small but genuine smile “please just concentrate on those who really need it, if you do insist on playing hero.”</p><p>“Sure. Okay” Alfred said almost softly, his head tilting as he continued to smile. “Oh!” He suddenly perked up “do you have a smart phone or a tablet? An email address will do if you have one of those.”</p><p>“If I -“ Arthur scoffed “of course I have an email address, I work from home remember? I’m not <em>actually</em> a senior citizen you know.” </p><p>“Haha, awesome! No, I remember, just thought it’d be nice to keep in touch” and then sheepishly he added “woulda preferred to ask you out for a coffee, but, you know...”</p><p>They shared a moment of meaningful eye contact, and Arthur finally noticed those pretty blue eyes hidden behind Alfred’s glasses. He could feel his cheekbones start to heat up again in a blush, and he bit his lip, looking away when Alfred started to chuckle. </p><p>Arthur shifted into a stretch, still holding the door, to retrieve a small rectangular card from the trinket bowl just inside his hallway. </p><p>“Here” he handed it over “my contact information is all there”</p><p>“You’re a writer?” Alfred looked up excitedly from the business card “that’s so cool!”</p><p>“A writer of sorts” Arthur grimaced “I’ve only had one thing published so far. I write mostly science fiction so-“</p><p>“Oh my god, I <em>love</em> science fiction!” Alfred enthused “I’ll have to check out some of your stuff!”</p><p>“Um, well” Arthur said a little flustered, reaching to point out his website address “there’s a few short stories on here...”</p><p>“Definitely” Alfred nodded, and when their eyes met again they both seemed to notice how much closer together they were standing.</p><p>“Well,” Arthur stepped back into his apartment, at the same time as Alfred shuffled further out into the hallway. </p><p>“Yeah, I’ll -“ he waved the card. </p><p>“Great. Thanks for stopping by Alfred, it’s very kind of you to be looking out for everyone. Stay safe.”</p><p>“Yeah, sure.  No problem. You too Arthur.”</p><p>After reluctantly closing the door, Arthur stood for a moment, pressing the backs of his fingers to his still slightly flushed face. He rolled his eyes at himself, but couldn’t help the little giddy smile on his lips as he made his way back to his laptop in the study.</p><p>Alfred seemed like a really nice guy. It was just a pity they wouldn’t be going out for that coffee any time soon. Honestly it was just Arthur’s luck, he’d always had terrible timing.</p><p>Arthur shook his head, before putting his reading glasses back on and placing his fingers onto the keyboard - he needed to concentrate on his editing.</p><p>He actually managed to reread almost a page of what he’d written that morning, before an email popped up in the bottom right side of his screen. The sender wasn’t anyone Arthur recognised, coming from a Jones_enterprises and without even including any tile. So Arthur clicked it, ready to delete it to his spam folder. </p><p>But instead there was just a short message - ‘This is me! Alfred x’ and then below that was a link. </p><p>Arthur hesitated with his curser over the lines of nonsensical blue text. He really should be working. This was bound to be some sort of distraction. Arthur drummed his fingers softly against the mouse. </p><p>He clicked it. Unconsciously leaning in towards the screen. </p><p>When the web page loaded, Arthur was shocked to see his reflection, he was wearing a perplexed expression and his hair was noticeably messy. He was also way too close to be even remotely flattering. He moved back from the camera above the screen of his laptop, belatedly registering what sounded like a ring tone.</p><p>“Hey! You got it!” Alfred answered the call with a delighted grin, and Arthur found himself unable to talk as Alfred settled himself down on his couch.</p><p>“So Arthur, tell me, what’s your stance on time travel?”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is just a Drabble I wrote whilst I’m supposed to be working from home. I don’t mean to make light of the current situation in any way, but I wanted to start writing again and I guess this is what came out.</p><p>Obviously, it’s not a great idea to go knocking on people’s doors right now, even with the best of intentions. If you’re lucky enough to be fit and healthy and want to help others, first off stay at home, but otherwise a simple note of support through their door would be a much better idea - just not really fic material. </p><p>I’m using the house party app to have regular video calls with my friends, and I do recommend it, although as an introvert I’ve been training for this hermit life for years. It’s fortunate really, as I’m in the group that currently can’t go out for at least twelve weeks! (T ^ T) </p><p>Anyway, hope you and yours are doing okay - I have a tumblr that I’ve never used for posting (senbazuru-writes) but I can pick up messages there if you’d like someone to talk to. Hopefully I’ll have a better story to show you soon. Love you,</p><p>Sen</p></blockquote></div></div>
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